Boondocking & Assistance Plans

Hello,

I am closing this topic due to lack of activity. Thank you for your time and participating. Please feel free to open a new thread on this topic in the future if you wish.

Thank you,
Ella
Good Sam Care Team

During a camping trip, my suv got stuck in forest loam deep in a national forest. The ranger got me in touch with the closest tow service. They were two hours away and only had a 3500 pickup. Fortunately, it was enough for them to literally yank my suv out of the loam. Cost me $300. No credit card service and I didn't have cash. The driver/owner and I made a deal. He called his kids' school and I paid the $300 towards their enrollment fees over the phone using my card.

Roadside Assistance programs aren't going to do this. There is no profit in it.

First, someone has to pay the driver to drive out to you. That will be over $150 per hour. If you are 5 hours from the nearest shop, that's $750 just to reach you. And that's if the shop has a truck that can tow your rig.

Next, there is the cost to get you to the shop. Again, if you're lucky, the shop with the truck can accept your rig, so that will only be another $750 to tow you there.

You've already spent $1500 and haven't even had your rig checked out, let alone repaired.

So how much are you willing to pay for RA? They aren't going to sell it to you for $200 a year when a single service call will be 7-10 times more expensive.

Good Sam Roadside Assistance defines "off road area" as ...

"VEHICLES NOT COVERED BY THE GOOD SAM PLATINUM ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
• Stolen, vandalized, or impounded vehicles.
• Utility trailers of any type being used for non-recreational purposes, animal trailers and vehicles used to transport show animals.
• Tiny Home trailers and Park Model trailers
• Vehicles located outside the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Mexico.
• Vehicles in a repair facility, off-road area 10, sand beach area, or any unattended, unlicensed, or abandoned vehicles.
• Commercial/business vehicles and trailers (including but not limited to limousines), vehicles specifically designed for commercial or business purposes.
Vehicles licensed commercially or in a business name.
• Any personal vehicle(s) used for any type of commercial/business purpose(s) or for any other non-recreational purpose(s)."

"10 An off-road area is defined as an area OFF of any of the following: hard-packed or graded dirt public road, paved street, driveway, parking lot, highway, freeway, expressway or adjacent shoulder."

No mention of an allowable "distance off the road".
This was taken from their Platinum Plan Member Benefits Brochure.

How would the plans calculate the average cost of recovery and assistance when terrain, soils etc. vary so greatly? Oceano Dunes is easy but the Eastern Sierra isn’t.

Using this and other RV plus HDT forums maybe a network of HDT owners/drivers can be created to help each other out with this problem for a hefty fee maybe.

If you pay yourself the tow truck outfits may tow you from further to reach places which would be my offer if I break down in my Dodge Ram further from the paved road once the operator arrives onsite and we cut out AAA or I may not even call AAA. I was stuck in a sandy beach area next to a lake and the park ranger towed me out and I cancelled the AAA service call. I did tell them I was stuck in the sand away from road.

No ideal solutions for any of us it would seem. Maybe someone here has actual experience with this challenge.